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11 May 2010 15:01 — "No Power for the Parliament" warns EPO examiners association: The Staff Union of the EPO sent a letter to the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, warning of risks integrated into the accession of the European Union to the European Patent Convention (EPC). They warn that the European Parliament can be circumvented as a legislator in patent law. (Comments: 39)

09 Feb 2010 12:05 — Members of European Parliaments ask when they will receive the ACTA documents: Some Member of the European Parliament have asked when they will receive the ACTA documents, mentioning the Lisbon Treaty article 218 which says that the Parliament have to be "fully informed" of the negotiations. The new trade commissioner Karel DeGucht said previously that the Lisbon Treaty do not apply to ACTA, because the confidentiality of the talks were negotiated before. (Comments: 32)

07 Oct 2009 12:14 — FFII and IP Justice file Bilski Amicus Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court: The Foundation for a Free Informational Infrastructure (FFII) and IP Justice filed an Amicus Curiae Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case Bilski v. Kappos is expected to become a landmark ruling on the future of the U.S. patent system. The joint Brief explains the interlink of software and business methods, and points out alternatives to the so called Machine-or-Transformation test used for categorizing patents. (Comments: 9)

02 Sep 2009 22:30 — IBM says software patents drive OSS development: In its Amicus Brief to the US Supreme Court on the Bilski case, IBM is arguing that "patent protection has promoted the free sharing of source code [...] which has fueled the explosive growth of open source software development." (Comments: 87)

08 Jul 2009 11:54 — What's wrong with the United Patent Litigation System (UPLS)?: A journalist of WorldIPReview recently asked FFII what were its views of the proposed United Patent Litigation System (UPLS), which is now being questioned by the Council in a submission to the ECJ. FFII had already published a press release mentioning the new push for software patents in Europe via a centralised and trusted court. (Comments: 0)

03 Jul 2009 17:34 — The Bilski test was invented by IBM: By reading the Amicus Brief of IBM to the CAFC, it is pretty clear that the machine tranformation test which allows software patents and ban business method patents was invented by IBM lawyers. (Comments: 220)

22 Jun 2009 12:34 — USPTO refuses to disclose Bilski's pending patent application: The US Supreme Court will soon hear Bilski on why software and business method patents are so good for the US economy. I was trying to find out where the Bilski's pending patent application was published, and I ended up writing to the new USPTO President and ex-IBM David Kappos. I finally got an answer from a USPTO official that the Bilski's pending patent application cannot be seen by the public. (Comments: 38)

04 Jun 2009 20:24 — European Patent Office refuses spanish amicus brief against software patents: Alberto Barrionuevo, CEO of the small spanish software company OpenTIA and ex-president of the FFII, had submitted an amicus brief to the Enlarged Board of Appeal in spanish. The European Patent Office has notified him that they are refusing his letter because it was not written in one of the 3 official languages of the EPO. (Comments: 1)

12 May 2009 13:30 — European Commission pushes for software patents via a trusted court: The European Commission is pushing for software patents via a centralised trusted patent court that would be created with the United Patent Litigation System (UPLS), an international treaty that would remove national courts. This court system would be shielded against any review by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Thus patent judges would have the last word on software patents. (Comments: 27)

The FSF (Free Software Foundation) is displaying a message on top of their frontpage:

Everyone in the US: phone your senators' offices at 202-224-3121 to oppose the US-Peru "Free Trade" Treaty. It requires software patents and something like the DMCA. (Not to mention other harmful effects on other areas of life.)

It's normally interpreted by the patent office, and by the courts in the member states, as meaning that it is susceptible to be used in a way, if we like, if I can put it like this, which, in a way which makes money. — Anthony Howard, DG Internal Market, JURI debate of 16th June 2003

Article 16.9.1: "Each Party shall make patents available for any invention, whether a product or process, in all fields of technology, provided that the invention is new, involves an inventive step, and is capable of industrial application. …"

Article 16.9.1 (continued): "… For the purposes of this Article, a Party may treat the terms “inventive step” and “capable of industrial application” as being synonymous with the terms “non-obvious” and “useful,” respectively."

It seems here the USA don't want to force their interpretation of "inventive step" and "capable of industrial application" on Peru.

There is also a footnote on Article 16.9.11, which has been left out by zoobab:

Article 16.9.11: "Each Party shall provide that a claimed invention is industrially applicable if it has a specific, substantial, and credible utility.,16," […]
"16 For greater certainty, this paragraph is without prejudice to paragraphs 1 and 2."

I am confused. What does this mean? If something is simply of use it may be regarded as industrially applicable, but if it is of specific, substantial and credible use than it must be regarded as industrially applicable?

I have found nothing that would restrict the meaning of "technology".

The whole FTA seems very similar to CAFTA. I can see that it would make it harder to reject software patents but I can't see why it would require software patents.